Ole Miss defeats Georgia 5-1 in first round of SEC Tourney
J.B. Woodman was 2-for-3 in the Rebels’ win. (Photo: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss Athletics)
Hoover, Ala. – Showing why he is a First Team All-SEC player, Ole Miss captain J.B. Woodman led the Rebels to a 5-1 win over Georgia in the first round of the SEC Tournament Tuesday.
In addition to his season-high seven catches in the outfield, Woodman, a member of the SEC All-Defensive team, showed his offensive prowess with a two-run triple and an RBI double to lead Ole Miss (41-16) past the Bulldogs (27-30) inside Hoover Met Stadium.
The Rebels’ pitching was solid once again, with ace Brady Bramlett (8-3) picking up the win. Bramlett, who was on a pitch count of approximately 60, allowed only one Georgia run on three hits in four innings.
C Spire Ferriss Trophy finalist Woodman was 2-for-3 at bat, recording three RBI. Georgia centerfielder Stephen Wrenn was impressed with Woodman’s play.
Far as J.B. goes, he’s a great ball player. He showed that today. I got a lot of respect for him.
Georgia CF Stephen Wrenn
With the win, the Rebels (41-16) now lead the all-time series against Georgia, 40-38, and will face No. 2 seed South Carolina on Wednesday as they move to the double-elimination portion of the tournament.
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Bulldogs strike first–but Rebels take over
Bramlett picks up the win for the Rebels. (Photo: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss Athletics)
The Bulldogs, who totaled seven hits, struck first on the scoreboard with a home run to left field by Wrenn. After that, Bramlett gave up only two hits and recorded two strikeouts on 57 pitches.
Feigl pitched three innings, throwing 38 pitches while giving up only three hits.
Stokes and Short pitched one inning apiece, throwing 17 and 12 pitches, respectively. Short struck out second baseman L.J. Talley in the top of the ninth to end the game.
Georgia head coach Scott Stricklin was complimentary of the Rebels’ pitching:
I think their bullpen is outstanding. I said that before we started. That’s a big key to their team is their bullpen is very strong. I thought Feigl, Stokes and Short were really good. We had our chances. We put some guys on base. We had second and third there with (Nick) King up in the eighth and that makes a different game. We are one base hit from making it different, but all-in-all, we just came up a little bit short.
Georgia head coach Scott Stricklin
Superman delivers for the Rebels
Before the surge in the bottom of the fourth, Mike Bianco’s team seemed a little off-balanced–that is, until the team’s Superman delivered.
Woodman, also known as “Superman” to his teammates and Ole Miss faithful, carried the Rebels out of the darkness of the first three innings with another day of great hitting. His triple to right center field scored Tate Blackman and Will Golsan. Before the Rebels got onto the scoreboard, the Bulldogs’ starting pitcher Heath Holder (4-5) walked Golsan. Then, Blackman singled to center field to send Golsan to second base.
It’s great to know that he’s behind you. What’s even better is having him at the plate as well. When he is at the plate, he’s going to give you a quality at-bat for our team and put the ball in play.
Brady Bramlett on J.B. Woodman
Moments later, Colby Bortles doubled to left field to score Henri Lartigue and Woodman. Lartigue was hit by Holder’s wild pitch, then stole second before heading home off Bortles’ strong hit.
Ole Miss would score once more in the bottom of the fifth off another solid hit from Woodman, who doubled to left center field to score Golsan. From that point on, Georgia couldn’t muster anything else outside of Wrenn’s 13th homerun on the season.
“This is a top-10 team for a reason,” Stricklin said.
Post-game notes
Georgia is now 1-2 all-time in the tournament against Ole Miss. The Rebels are now 31-36 all-time in 21 SEC Tournament appearances, including 22-23 under Bianco, which ties him with former South Carolina head coach Ray Tanner for the sixth-most wins by a head coach in SEC Tournament history.
Ole Miss improves to 39-3 when scoring four or more runs and 36-0 when leading after eight innings this season.
Quotable
“We know our bullpen is awesome,” Woodman said when asked about the confidence the team has in its pitching staff. “Anytime we have a lead, we know they are going to throw strikes, fill it up and get people out.”
Following the game, J.B. Woodman, Colby Bortles and Brady Bramlett spoke with the media.
Ole Miss plays South Carolina 30 minutes after the conclusion of Wednesday’s 9:30 am (CT) game between Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.
(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss Athletics)
Courtney Smith
Courtney is from Memphis and received his Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Memphis in May of 2014. He began his journalism career covering the Memphis Tigers Men's basketball team, which landed him an intern position on 730 Yahoo Sports Radio and a position with Rivals.com. A freelance writer for the Associated Press, Courtney is also a member of The Rebel Walk team and reports regularly on Ole Miss football and basketball. Courtney, the father of a six-year old girl named Soniyah, prefers to cover NCAA basketball and football, but is happy to report on any other sport that comes his way.
